The home goods category has seen its share of twists and turns over the past five years: a pandemic-era boom and then a slump when consumers pivoted toward travel and experiences rather than physical items. Now, it’s facing headwinds in the form of tariffs and an uncertain economy, and generative AI could be changing how people shop.

Kate Gulliver, CFO and chief administrative officer at Wayfair, spoke with CFO Brew about her career, and about her company’s plan to roll with the punches.

From startup to category leader: In some ways, Gulliver has grown along with Wayfair. After working in private equity, she joined the company as head of investor relations in 2014, and helped to run its IPO. At that time, it had about $1 billion in sales and 2,000 employees, Gulliver said. She describes it as “a super high-growth but relatively immature company from a systems and process perspective.” Today, Wayfair employs around 12,000 people and brought in $12 billion in revenue from June 2024 through June 2025.

As a combined CFO and chief administrative officer, Gulliver has plenty on her plate: HR, finance, real estate, legal and compliance, corporate affairs, and communications all report to her. She enjoys the breadth of the dual role, which she says gives her insight into the “backbone” of the company. “Intellectually,” the many departments she oversees “can feel quite different day to day, which is fun,” she said.

How does this busy CFO balance all of her responsibilities?—CV

If you’re a member of a certain generation, you might remember having a traffic light in your school cafeteria that measured noise levels. Green meant you were fine, yellow meant “Keep it down,” and red meant you were in for whatever punishment your principal deemed fit.

Now, staff at PwC UK will share a similar experience with US schoolkids back in the day. The Big Four firm is using a traffic-light-style dashboard to enforce its return-to-office policy, the Financial Times reported.

The system tracks badge swipes and employees’ wi-fi data to confirm their location, sources told the FT. Staff whose office attendance falls below 60% receive an “amber” rating, while those whose attendance is below 40% are, literally, in the red. Employees can view their data on the dashboard, as can senior partners and leadership, including the CFO, chief administrative officer, and chief people officer.

Last year, PwC UK announced an RTO policy, starting this January, requiring staff to be either in the office or at a client site at least three days per week. The new system cross-checks employees’ wi-fi location data with time sheet systems like Workday to see whether they’re at client sites.

In a video message to staff, PwC UK’s chief people officer, Phillippa O’Connor, said she was aware of concerns that the dashboard could conflict with the firm’s emphasis on “trust” and “empowerment.” She stated that it “aims to address persistent and deliberate non-compliance.” PwC staff can receive exemptions from the RTO policy due to “life events and unforeseen circumstances.”

What would your time sheet look like?—CV

Welp. In the age of AI, perhaps it’s time to retire the old adage, “Go big, or go home,” and replace it with, “Go micro, and then keep going.”

Business and technology consulting firm West Monroe found that organizations that targeted “micro” AI interventions were better able to deliver faster results and limit risk, and it’s a trend among top performers, according to the firm.

The analysis comes as companies and organizations work to navigate the choppy waters of the ongoing AI transformation. Businesses are directing millions of dollars toward new AI products and systems, but the technology offers unproven ROI and is itself evolving rapidly.

According to the analysis, which appeared in the firm’s Tech Trends to Watch in 2025 report released in July, “organizations winning today are shifting away from ‘big bang’ implementations and are instead prioritizing initiatives that yield faster results.”

But…why? This appears to be a departure from innovation that prioritizes big ideas and big risk…and a big budget. But technology is evolving, and tech infrastructure like cloud and new AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) can reduce implementation of transformation projects from months to days. Additionally, with the right infrastructure, teams can deploy new AI interventions independently of other projects.

To keep reading HR Brew’s story on scaling down AI ambitions, click here.—AD